"We and stations participating in NewsON are very mindful about the balance of ads and content in the app," Gump told TechNewsWorld. "We will be following generally accepted guidelines for the frequency and duration of ads within the industry for digital video."

NewsON focuses primarily on video content that include ads in one package, so ad blockers "are not expected to have a significant impact," he said.

TV's Still Hot

Adults 18 and over watch traditional TV for nearly 33 hours weekly, according to Nielsen's Q2 total audience report.

Radio comes in a poor second, with nearly 13 hours. Apps and Internet access on a smartphone occupy nearly 8 hours weekly, and video on a smartphone comes in last, at only 15 minutes a week.

In fact, local TV has continued to gain audiences throughout 2015, according to a Pew report on the state of the news media.

Getting Hands on the Moolah

NewsON will offer local TV stations a good option to further monetize their content.

"Many local TV stations offer video online, but they can't afford to have a really nice platform that has good analytics," said Mukul Krishna, digital media senior global director at Frost & Sullivan.

"Having a dedicated platform on which you can divide all the bounty you can get is going to be additional revenue the stations are missing right now," he told TechNewsWorld.

Users tweeting about news items will help raise additional revenue.

"Right now, you can take a nugget -- a short clip -- and throw it on many different sites with ads stitched into it and generate additional ad revenue. As people make clips from NewsON viral through the Web, that might direct more eyeballs to NewsON. There's a very good chance nuggets will direct users to their website," Krishna suggested.

"As a general statement, we've confirmed that both stations and NewsON are expected to generate revenue from advertising," Gump pointed out. "The TV stations receive a large portion of the overall ad revenue."

Richard Adhikari has written about high-tech for leading industry publications since the 1990s and wonders where it's all leading to. Will implanted RFID chips in humans be the Mark of the Beast? Will nanotech solve our coming food crisis? Does Sturgeon's Law still hold true? You can connect with Richard on
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